American politician
Played the mustache-twirling villain for years in a production of "The Drunkard" (from 1938). A decade later he made his NY theater debut with productions of Arthur Miller s "An Enemy of the People", Tennessee Williams "Camino Real" and Horton Foote s "The Trip to Bountiful".
A devoted member of the Actors Studio, he studied the Stanislavsky Method with Robert Lewis and Tamara Daykarhanova, who was herself a student of Stanislavsky.
A politically opinionated man, he was blacklisted in 1957. As a result, his early work in television and film came to a halt for a number of years, but continued to perform on stage. In later years, Mr. Ludwig shared stories on how his relatives and friends were trailed and threatened with various forms of retribution if they didnt deliver incriminating information about the actor.
Was a beloved acting teacher at HB Studio in New York City alongside Uta Hagen.
Had his own cure for "stage fright". Explained that stage fright was caused by an "empty mind", and by filling this emptiness with the life and energy of your character and the situation at hand, you wont have anymore room for the fear.
